Committee Approves Petition To Change Lake Calhoun's Name, 4-3
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The Hennepin County Administration Committee has approved a petition to change the name of Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis.
It was a close vote of 4-3 in favor of changing the name.
The biggest lake in Minneapolis is currently named after John Calhoun, a proponent of slavery who helped establish Fort Snelling in Minnesota.
The Minneapolis Park Board voted in May to use the Dakota name, Bde Maka Ska. The change would both highlight the lake's connection to Native Americans and cast off the legacy of John C. Calhoun, a statesman who owned slaves and wrote legislation to remove Native Americans from their lands.
The next step is that the item has to be approved by the full county commission, which meets next on Nov. 28, although its agenda for that meeting has not yet been finalized.
The proposed name change still has a number of steps in front of it, including state and federal approval.